Primarily taught with the Nystrom Globe/Map Cart. We recommend teaching the Nystrom curriculum units 1-3 (first 18 lessons), approximately 2 lessons per week for 9 weeks or 3 lessons per week for 6 weeks. Lessons 19-26 should be taught if time allows.
Each lesson has a desk map and a globe component. In the interest of time, lessons should alternate between one and the other.
Another option might be to have half the class using globes and the other using desk maps. (The globes are primarily used for the a & b parts of the lesson and the desk maps for parts c & d.)
Enduring Understandings: The students will understand that:
Geography has a range of helpful tools that can assist us in understanding our earth and its patterns.
Geography allows us to explore patterns in regions, movement, location, place, and relationships between humans and environments.
Essential Questions:
Why do we need the tools of geography?
How can we use the tools of geography to help us understand the earth?
In what ways do maps help us understand the influence of geographic factors on human settlement?
How are latitude and regional climate, vegetation, and land use interrelated?
Skills: The student will be able to:
Compare maps and globes (Lessons 1 and 2 are integral in introducing this curriculum).
Use a compass rose, map scale, and key (Nystrom lessons 3, 5, 6, and 7).
Use maps to identify patterns in human settlement (Nystrom Lesson 8).
Interpret a resource map to recognize patterns of vegetation (Nystrom Lesson 9).
Identify and label different physical features of the western hemisphere (Nystrom Lessons 10 and 12).
Identify different landforms (Nystrom Lesson 11).
Use latitude and longitude to locate places and understand climate patterns (Nystrom Lessons 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17).
Identify different map types, explain the purpose of different map types, and why a person would need various map types of one area (Nystrom Lessons 8, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26).
Identify and label the continents, oceans, equator, prime meridian, Tropic of Cancer (Nystrom Lessons 4, 15, and 16).
Tropic of Capricorn, Arctic Circle, and Antarctic Circle (Teacher needs to emphasize these with Lesson 16 and 17).
Create different types of maps to illustrate resources, political boundaries, population centers, climate and physical features of the western hemisphere (Nystrom Lessons 19-22).
Explore the impact of latitude on climate, vegetation and land use (Nystrom Lessons 19-22).
Knowledge: The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of:
Key vocabulary and concepts such as Hemispheres, continents, oceans, seas, cardinal directions, latitude, longitude, scale, key, legend, compass rose, equator, prime meridian, and landform names (plateau, peninsula, river, canyon, mesa, butte, etc.)
Climate, vegetation, resources, ore, political map, physical map, resource map, atlas, economics, settlement, population center, land use.
How a geographer would use different geographic tools to interpret a map or area of land.
World Geography and Western Geography
Recommended Assessments Include:
We recommend to teach lessons in the order as follows:
Enduring Understandings:
The students will understand that:
Essential Questions:
Skills:
The student will be able to:
Knowledge:
The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of: